With just days to go before the December 5 local government polls, candidates and their management teams are busy putting the finishing touches to their election campaign in place.

With the People’s National Party (PNP) losing central government to the JLP by a razor-thin margin in the recent general elections, the party will undoubtedly want to take control of local government.

Its president, Portia Simpson Miller, at the party’s first National Executive Council (NEC) meeting following the September 3 defeat made it clear that she would not be taking the local elections lightly.

On the other hand, the JLP, tingling from its recent election victory, will certainly want to capitalise on the momentum it had leading into the recent general elections.

Here in the West, when the polls open on Wednesday, some 127 candidates, including independents, will be facing the electorate in the region. But the main focus will be on the JLP and PNP representatives and which party will gain control of the municipalities.

There is an almost even mix of youth and experience in the candidates.

In St Elizabeth, for instance, former JLP members of parliament, Jeremy Palmer and Derrick Sangster have decided to throw their hat in the ring at the local level.

Then, there is also the 29-year-old entrepreneur, Damion Baker, who will be making a bid to break the PNP’s 23-year hold in the Black River division.

Over in St James a interesting battle is expected in the Montego Bay East (Railway Gardens) division where Henry McCurdy who failed in his bid to win North West St James in the recent elections, will face the JLP’s Dale Delapenha.

The matchup between businessman Conroy Walker (PNP) and trade unionist Brenda Taylor for the Spring Mount division is also generating much interest.

In the 2003 local polls, Taylor lost the division to the PNP’s Donald Colomathi in a magisterial recount by a majority of one vote.

The contest between newcomer Maxine Bisasor (JLP) and former PNP councillor Dave Anglin in the Montego Bay North East division (Norwood) should also be a keenly-contested affair.

So too, should be the contest in the Chester Castle and the Cauldwell divisions in Hanover.

And in Trelawny, the Sherwood Content division where the hard- nosed incumbent Fernandez ‘Bingey’ Smith (JLP) and the charming and energetic Telka Holt (PNP) should prove to be very exciting.

On election day, the JLP is undoubtedly looking forward to repeat or even better its performance in the last local government polls, held in 2003.

In that contest, the JLP which was then in opposition, gained control of four of the five parish councils in the region covering Trelawny, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth.

A breakdown of the 62 parish council divisions in the region during that election shows the JLP winning seven of the nine divisions in Trelawny; nine of the 17 divisions in St James, four of the seven in Hanover and nine of the 15 in St Elizabeth.

In Westmoreland, the PNP won 10 of the 14 divisions up for grabs.

But, the results in the respective divisions in the region during the recent general elections show a slightly different picture.

In Westmoreland, for example, the PNP gained the majority of votes over the JLP in all of the 15 divisions there.

While in St James, the JLP won 13 of the 17 divisions and in St Elizabeth the JLP better its performance over the 2003 election.

There was no difference in the margin in Trelawny, but in Hanover the JLP gained the majority of votes in five divisions.

But inspite of the statistics, the hierarchy of the major political parties have expressed confidence in winning the West.

JLP deputy leader for Area Council Four Horace Chang is contending that the JLP will do even better than it did in the last local government elections.

“We will pick up more divisions this time around, particularly in the parishes of St Elizabeth, St James and Hanover,” said a confident Chang.

Chairman of the PNP’s Region Six, Dr Wykeham McNeil, for his part, believes that his party will do better than in 2003.

“We are expected to do exceedingly well in Westmoreland, Hanover is looking good too, and we hope to pick up many (divisions) in St James,” Mc Neil told the Observer West earlier this month.

Some political observers, however, believe that the JLP will again be hard to beat in the West.

What is certain is that at the next sitting of the various parish councils across the region there will be a mixture of old and new faces.

We wish them well.